The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as the "FM-8 Jr.". Although it was designed to be a cut-down version of the FM-8 (with the FM-7 costing 126,000 yen, compared to 218,000 yen for the FM-8), most notably removing the (expensive)

bubble memory Bubble memory is a type of non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory that uses a thin film of a magnetic material to hold small magnetized areas, known as ''bubbles'' or ''domains'', each storing one bit of data. The material is arrange ...

technology, the FM-7 was given a more advanced AY-3-8910 sound chip capable of three voice sound synthesis, leading to a strong uptake among the hobbyist computer market in Japan and making it a more popular system than the FM-8. The FM-7 primarily competed with the NEC PC-8801 and

Sharp X1 The , sometimes called the Sharp X1 or CZ-800C, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It is based on a Zilog Z80 CPU. The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen ...

series of computers in the early 1980s. It was succeeded by the FM-77 series of computers in 1984, which featured backwards compatibility with the FM-7. The FM-77 series was later succeeded by the 32-bit FM Towns in 1989. The FM-7 is based around the 6809 chip, which was also used in home computers such as the

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

and

Dragon 32/64 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are 8-bit home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales, before mo ...

, as well as several

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Hardware

* Two MC 68B09 CPUs @ 2 MHz: one main CPU and one graphics processor. * Screen resolution: 640×200, 8 colors *

Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

: 40 KB

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, 64 KB RAM * Sound: 3-channel ( AY-3-8910) PSG chip, built-in speaker mounted near the top of the unit. From FM77AV onwards, the system includes the 6-channel YM2203 (3 PSG channels + 3 FM channels, making it a total of six). * Interfaces:

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, monitor and

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ports, 3 expansion slots. * Storage: 5.25"

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

Operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

OS-9 OS-9 is a family of real-time, process-based, multitasking, multi-user operating systems, developed in the 1980s, originally by Microware Systems Corporation for the Motorola 6809 microprocessor. It was purchased by Radisys Corp in 2001, a ...

(compatible with Color Computer) * Three slots for optional plug-in cards, including a Z-80 CPU and additional

ports. * Full-size keyboard, with keys handling multiple functions (as many as 5, depending on what SHIFT/KANA/GRAPH/etc key is pressed). * 10 Function Keys at the top, pre-programmed with shortcuts (LIST, etc.). * Numeric keypad (on right) and cursor-control keys (upper-right).

F-BASIC

The included "F-BASIC" is an enhanced version of the Color BASIC language used on the TRS-80 Color Computer. Changes include a different character set that includes

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

and a few

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

, the ability to have graphics appear on the default text screen, and several new commands such as BEEP, CONNECT, MON, SYMBOL, INTERVAL, MERGE, RANDOMIZE, SWAP, and TERM. There are also strings for TIME$ and DATE$, which access a temporary built-in internal clock, though if the power is turned off, the time and date are lost. While F-Basic has commands that Color BASIC does not, most commands featured in both versions of the language operate in exactly the same fashion. While the BASIC EDIT command works the same as on Color BASIC, the cursor position is important on the FM-7: there is a small keypad on the upper-right of the FM-7 with cursor-control keys (arrows, INSERT & DELETE), and wherever the user decides to position the cursor, it will move it there and affect whatever is underneath it. Both Microsoft and Fujitsu share the copyright on the

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

Spain

The FM-7 was sold in Spain as the Secoinsa FM-7. Secoinsa was a electronics supplier to Telefonica, the main Spanish telecom, and was eventually transformed into Fujitsu Spain. It retained an independent R&D department until Fujitsu's 1990 acquisition of ICL. Secoinsa adapted the FM-7 for the Spanish market and specifically for the Spanish government's push towards computers in school, the "Athena Project".

Models

There were several models of the computer: * 1982 – FM-7: M68B09, RAM 64 KB, ROM 48 KB, VRAM 48 KB, 640×200, 8 colors * 1984 – FM-NEW7: M68B09 integrated memory and LSI chip (cheap production). The features are the same as the FM-7. * 1984 – FM77: M68B09E, RAM 64 KB (max 256 KB), VRAM 48 KB * 1985 – FM77L2, M68B09E * 1985 – FM77L4, M68B09E * 1985 – FM77AV: M68B09E, RAM 128 KB (max 192 KB), ROM 48 KB, VRAM 96 KB, 640×200 (8 colors), 320×200 (4096 colors), 4096 colors, 1 (AV-1) or 2 (AV-2) floppy 3.5-inch 320 KB * 1986 – FM77AV20: M68B09E, like FM77AV but has floppy 640 KB * 1986 – FM77AV40: M68B09E, like FM77AV20 but has RAM 192 KB (max 448 KB), VRAM 144 KB to support 320×200 (262144 colors) * 1987 – FM77AV20EX: M68B09E, RAM 128 KB (max 192 KB), VRAM 96 KB, 640x400 * 1987 – FM77AV40EX: M68B09E, RAM 192 KB (max 448 KB), VRAM 144 KB, 640x400 * 1988 – FM77AV40SX: M68B09E, RAM 192 KB (max 448 KB), VRAM 144 KB, 640x400, built-in video digitizer https://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/personal/0017.html

References

External links

Fujitsu FM 7
OLD-COMPUTERS.COM Museum

, 8-Bit Computer Page, Larry's Homepage
Oh!FM-7 museum
{{Fujitsu Fujitsu computers 6809-based home computers Home video game consoles Computer-related introductions in 1982